Celebrity Apprentice

Ivanka Trump is sticking up for disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who on Wednesday was sentenced to 14 years in prison on corruption charges. Blagojevich was a contestant on the last season of 'The Celebrity Apprentice,' and during his sentencing, the judge admonished him for appearing on the reality show while he was out on bail.

On 'Good Day New York,' (weekdays, 9AM ET on Fox) Ivanka said the sentence was too harsh. "Fourteen years seems pretty excessive ... that is one stiff penalty. We'll see what happens, but I am definitely thinking of his family at this point," she told Greg Kelly.

The casting rumors for Season 5 of 'Celebrity Apprentice' have been flying fast and furious! Earlier this week, People reported that 80s singing sensation Debbie Gibson and 'American Idol' alum Clay Aiken have been confirmed as contestants.

They'll be sitting in the boardroom alongside previously announced contestants Cheryl Tiegs and Marco Andretti. And that's not all: 'Real Housewives' star Teresa "Table Flipper" Giudice and writer Victoria Gotti are also said to have joined the cast.

Another possible cast member is former Danity Kane singer and reality star Aubrey O'Day. Sources confirmed to Life & Style magazine that O'Day is headed to the show, adding, "Aubrey is so excited to be part of the show."

Rich said that he likes Busey in doses and thinks he has a big heart, but wonders whether the actor is crazy or just putting on a show. Either way, it was an interesting experience for Rich. "It's just kind of cool to know I've got Gary Busey on my cell phone," he said. "If I ever want to just have a crazy conversation, 'Hey Gary, what's goin' on?'"

Rich was also thrilled that Trump tried on a black cowboy hat, and thinks Trump enjoyed it. Rich said Trump told him to make sure the hat winds up in Trump's office. He'll probably just display it there. Cowboy hats mess up your hair.

It's been a roller-coaster ride of a season, full of twists, turns and tons of freak-outs. But it all came to an end last night, with Donald Trump crowning this year's 'Celebrity Apprentice' on the season finale.

The competition started with 16 stars, and Trump knocked them off one by one until it there were just two: John Rich and Marlee Matlin. It was a showdown that pitted the country star against the movie star, ending a record-breaking season that raised more than $3 million for charity.

After a long and memorable season of 'The Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 9PM ET on NBC) it came down to just two. Either Marlee Matlin or John Rich would be fired by Donald Trump, with the other becoming the fourth celebrity winner in the most popular format of the reality staple.

Except, The Donald decided to do something a little differently this time around. Rather than fire one of them, he simply declared a winner. Was this a statement as to how much he respected the person who came in second, or just him trying something new?

Of Matlin, Trump said: "You've raised more money than anybody in a single night, over a million dollars. The job you've done is just absolutely incredible." Of Rich, he said, "From the beginning you've been a leader. You've been strong. You've been smart. You've been sharp. I just can't ask for anything more."

In the penultimate episode of 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 9PM ET on NBC), four would become the final two. To help him make this tough decision, Donald Trump brought back three recent winners.

Joan Rivers, Piers Morgan and Bret Michaels assisted by interviewing the final four and served as advisors to Trump in his biggest decision yet. In fact, he did the firings before the challenge, based almost entirely on their tips.

A key moment for one of this week's eliminated contestants in the interviews came when asked about who would make it into the finale.

"My three winners hated your answer when they asked you who should be in the finals and you didn't say yourself," Trump told this person before firing them. Who didn't believe in themself?

After weeks of battling with Star Jones, NeNe Leakes controversially walked out of 'The Celebrity Apprentice' Sunday night. Now, with celebrities and others lobbing the racist label at Donald Trump, NeNe's friends say that quitting the show in the shocking -- and low-rated -- episode, was a smart, principled move.

"Everything will ultimately work out for NeNe," said a friend of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' star. "In the long run she was much better off to quit and walk away than get a job with Donald Trump."

It should be noted that each celebrity is playing to raise money for their charity rather than get a job within Trump's organization. It should also be noted that the 'Celebrity Apprentice' we're seeing on Sundays was taped months ago, before The Donald's now-floundering bid for the White House and string of attacks on President Obama that many believe reek of racism.

It was a wild night on 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 8PM ET on NBC). In a three-hour episode, there were two Boardrooms and two firings to get through. LaToya Jackson had just returned to the competition last week, becoming the first contestant in the history of the franchise to ever be invited back.

She vowed to prove that she could be more impressive on the men's team, and so Trump placed her there. But before the show could even get to that point, Donald Trump decided to address the constant fighting between NeNe Leakes and Star Jones.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

So he split them up. Trump shifted NeNe over to the men's team and flipped Meat Loaf over to the women's side. Now Team Backbone had both Jackson and Leakes, and both teams were co-ed.

Color me confused, but I never guessed that this season of 'The Celebrity Apprentice' would become 'The Meat Loaf Show.' Nor did I ever think he was a serious contender when it came to winning ... until now.

The emotional rocker dominated much of this week's three-hour show -- yes, three hours -- with his ups and downs, replacing NeNe Leakes as the scene-stealer. No matter what he did, good or bad, Donald Trump heaped tons of praise on him.

The only thing that overshadowed Meat Loaf's big moment in the spotlight was the fact that not one, not two, but three (count 'em) celebs went home this week. In fact, three seemed like the magic number of the night.

It was a long night of 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 8PM ET on NBC). It looks like they basically smashed two episodes together into three hours, complete with two challenges for the teams and two Boardroom eliminations.

But, before they even got into any of it, Trump mixed up the teams to separate NeNe Leakes and Star Jones. Team Backbone, which had just picked up LaToya Jackson last week, got Leakes, while Team A.S.A.P. picked up Meat Loaf.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

Unfortunately, the new team roster on A.S.A.P. did little to stop the constant bickering. Only now, instead of NeNe and Star going at each other, it was Meat Loaf and Star.

Tina Fey returned to the stage that made her famous when she hosted 'Saturday Night Live' (Sat., 11:30PM ET on NBC). She hinted about her most famous impression in the opening monologue, and then later she popped on those glasses and Sarah Palin was back!

But Fey didn't return for this 'SNL' take on the recent Republican debate alone. She was joined on stage by impressionist Darrell Hammond doing his classic Donald Trump, as well as the usual cast playing some of the other Republican candidates. But it was Fey and Hammond who stole the show.

"I just hope tonight that the lamestream media won't twist my words by repeating them verbatim," Fey said in character. She took a moment to acknowledge the elimination of one of "the world's great villains," Katie Couric.

Then, on Sunday, President Obama's surprise announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by U.S. special forces preempted Trump's show, 'Celebrity Apprentice.'

On 'The Daily Show' (Weeknights, 11PM ET on Comedy Central) Jon Stewart tied it all together by saying he'd watched 'Celebrity Apprentice' to see if the "absolute shellacking" of Trump "had left a visible mark."

"I'm watching this 'Apprentice' episode. ... Even though the episode had been taped prior to the Correspondents' Dinner, the demolition of Trump at the Correspondents' Dinner was so thorough I thought it might actually supersede the rules of dimensional time and space and leave a mark on future episodes of 'The Apprentice'."

Last week's questionable firing of La Toya Jackson left a bad taste in my mouth, as loudmouth NeNe Leakes and shrewd strategist Star Jones teamed together and threw her under the bus to save their own skins. She wound up doing the elevator ride of shame down to the street after being kicked to the curb.

But, apparently, La Toya decided she wasn't going out like that after all, leading to one of the most shocking twists ever in the series' history.